AP Lit. King Lear

In line 10 Kent replies “I cannot conceive you” The definition of the word conceive as it is used in the passage is

apprehendExplanationIn answer to Kent’s question about Edmund, Gloucester admits that while he is the young man’s father, he has, “so often blush’d to acknowledge him” that he’s used to it (line 9). This is Elizabethan code for referring to a bastard offspring, who would be embarrassing to be seen with in public. Kent doesn’t quite get the joke and asks for clarification, perhaps because he doesn’t want to appear indelicate. Kent’s remark is humorous as well, as it sets the stage for Gloucester to reply, “Sir, this young fellow’s mother could,” in the following line.

Act 1 Scene 1 As can be inferred from the passage the word “moiety” line 6 most likely means

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Act 1 Scene 1 In lines 1-20, Gloucester also reveals his feelings about Edmund, which are that

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Act 1 Scene 1 In lines 14-15 what is Kent’s opinion of Edmund at first glance

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In the first exchange between Kent and Edmund the younger man reveals himself to be

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Goneril tells her father that she loves him using all of the following arguments EXCEPT

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Who is Gloucester’s illegitimate son?

Edmund

In the first scene, an attendant is carrying a small crown meant for whom?

Cordelia

When King Lear announces that he is retiring, what does he want to do with his lands?

Divide them equally amongst his daughters

When Cordelia refuses to profess her undying love for her father (the King), what does her father do?

Her father disowns her

What is the name of the person who stands up for Cordelia when her father disinherits her?

wants to stay as advisor to the kingExplanationKent believes he sees more clearly than Lear, and asks to stay with him as a true counselor. The words “true blank,” in this instance, mean the one who sees clearly. Several times in the passage, he has offered up his life to Lear as proof of his loyalty, but Lear is blinded by his rage against Cordelia, and cannot be made to see the truth of the situation.

It can be inferred in the passage that children born outside of marriage in Elizabethan society were considered

contemptibleExplanationGloucester wouldn’t “have blush’d to acknowledge” Edmund had there not been some social stigma surrounding his birth.

King Lear banishes which of the following people from his kingdom?

Kent

Which suitor of Cordelia refuses to marry her after she is disinherited?

Burgundy

Why does Cordelia refuse to flatter Lear as her sisters have done?

She finds them insincere and does not want to stoop to their level of hypocrisy.

How does Edmund first deceive Gloucester into believing that Edgar is plotting against him?

He pretends to hide a letter which he had fabricated, incriminating Edgar.

Which character spoke these lines, “I love your Majesty/ According to my bond, no more nor less” ?

Cordelia

Which act solidifies Lear’s trust for his new servant, Caius (Kent disguised)?

Caius trips Oswald after Lear has struck him because he is being impolite

Why is Kent put in the stocks at Gloucester’s castle?

Caius insults and then strikes Oswald, the servant, who cries out

How many servants/knights do Regan and Goneril finally agree upon as the number they will allow Lear to keep in his train if he wishes to live with either of them?

0

What literary device best describes this statement, “For you, Edmund,/ Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant/ So much commend itself, you shall be ours./ Natures of such deep trust we shall much need;/ You we first seize on” (II.1.112-116)?

irony

What natural element/happening becomes personified with Lear’s feelings when he leaves Gloucester’s castle and is shut out by his daughters?

storm

What demon does Edgar, disguised as poor Tom, frequently complain of?

foul fiend

What best describes the state Lear is trying to reach when he empathizes with poor Tom and wishes to strip himself of all of his clothes?

unaccommodated man

Poor Tom says that his old occupation was as a _____?

servingman

Gloucester prepares a transport to Dover because he overheard what news?

There is a plot against Lear’s life

Who kills Cornwall?

A servant defending Gloucester

What is Gloucester’s punishment for treason?

blinding

Which quotation best describes why Goneril’s feelings are divided after Cornwall’s death?

“But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,/ May all the building in my fancy pluck/ Upon my hateful life.”

How does Albany find out about Goneril’s plan to have Edmund kill him so that they can marry?

Edgar, disguised, brings him the letter he had intercepted from Oswald.

What is Edmund’s main concern when he contemplates which of the two sisters, Goneril or Regan, he should marry?

ambition: He wishes to be the ruler of a united kingdom.

Why does Lear run away when one of Cordelia’s attendants approaches him kindly?

He thinks the men were sent by Goneril and Regan and are trying to capture him.

What does the doctor prescribe to Cordelia as a remedy for Lear’s madness?

sleep

As is consistent with his practice in his other tragedies, in King Lear Shakespeare’s hero is

a noble person whose character flaws cause his own destruction.

The first stage in the ritual sacrifice of the hero-victim involves a general evil that pervades society, in King Lear, this evil in the abstract is

jealousy and ingratitude

In King Lear as in many modern tragedies, the protagonist is for the most part

a passive victim rather than an active agent in his own destruction

Shakespeare added certain touches of his own to the Lear story; however, from the original version he retained

the names Lear, Cordelia, and Regan

The universe of Shakespeare’s King Lear is best defined by the term

Darwinian

Edgar suggests after his victory over Edmund that the gods are just; in other words, Edgar comes to believe in the powers of

nemesis

Edmund identifies himself with the Goddess Nature because he deems her

savage and ungovernable

Cordelia is a surprising and somewhat improbable combination of

sincerity and pigheadedness

When Burgundy says to Lear, “I crave no more than your Highness offered, Nor will you tender less” (I, i, 196-7), he really means that

Lear should fulfill his part of the marriage contract by giving Cordelia a dowry.

A reference in the second scene of the first act that is undoubtedly anachronistic is

“I shall not need spectacles” (36).

Gloucester’s speech about “These late eclipses” (I, ii, 112-127) provides an example of

pathetic fallacy

When Albany says: All friends shall taste The wages of their virtue, and all foes The cup of their deservings he is referring to

the powers of Nemesis

One of the most positive aspects of the strange universe of King Lear is